How is your school district? With BRAC looming... The quality of your school district matters!

2015-06-25T11:41:28-04:00

As the military down-sizes, and Congress and DOD bat around the idea of another BRAC round (Base Realignment and Closure), it is likely we will have another BRAC.

There are many factors that go into these decisions, and ultimately, it is very political. But, community support, and schools are a huge consideration.

They also drive where many of us choose to retire.

So, How are your schools?

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/benefits/education/2015/06/25/poor-quality-of-schools-could-cost-military-communities/29233125/

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jun 25 at 2015 11:50 AM

2015-06-25T11:50:18-04:00

COL Charles Williams, according to which lists you may read from, Williamson County, Tennessee is either the 13th or 15th wealthiest county per capita in the U.S. Thus, Williamson County public schools are excellent, especially Brentwood HS and Ravenwood HS and their asociated feeder elementary and middle schools.
However, the closest military installation is Fort Cambell, which is almost an hour away, so this area is not really considered a military retirement mecca.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 25 at 2015 12:40 PM

2015-06-25T12:40:23-04:00

Coventry, RI has an OK school system compared with the rest of the state. It was much better when we moved here 11 years ago, but Core Curriculum has taken it's toll along with special needs integration and the quality of teachers. I'm sure this is no different than many other places.

School are a community resource and too many people don't understand that. Too many parents think you hand your kids over for 6 hours a day and that absolves them from disciplining them, doing homework with them and helping them meet the required standards - a Core Curriculum issue. Many w/o kids vote every budget and tax increase down putting more and more financial responsibility on parents. Our schools don't provide text books and we are forced to provide everything from paper towels and Kleenex to markers, crayons and chalk and "pay to play" for sports and other extra curricular activities. Our districted pushes integration of special needs children onto school programs for which they are not suited because they won't pay to put children in the programs they belong in out of district. There are many issues with severe profound children not being in adequate facilities or having adequate supervision because it all comes down to money. Teachers that aren't cutting it are allowed to stay because the union backs them despite numerous parent complaints. 2 teachers in one school had 40 combined complaints from parents who wanted their children removed from the classrooms because of the poor quality of the teaching but there was no place for these children to go and the teachers still have jobs despite the principal's objection. Seniority is more important than experience. A teacher who taught 5th grade for 10 years and who got displaced is able to bump a 1st grade teacher with less seniority then fail in the position because they can't relate to the younger children and again, the union lets them keep their job over the principal's objection. Money is being stripped from public schools and given to charter schools with "by lottery" enrollment which is a slap in the face.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jun 27 at 2015 10:51 PM

2015-06-27T22:51:06-04:00

I was involved with some of the analytical stuff for BRAC-2 through 4. With the criteria locked in the politics had far less impact than people either side wanted it to be. That's why it was a full up/down vote for the whole list. I can't remember all the factors and the weighting but schools are just one of many important factors, hence didn't become a driver. So if the lessons learned from the previous BRAC rounds and the evaluation criteria and weighting winds up somewhat similar, schools by themselves won't be the determiner. That said, poor schools is a symptom of an overall problem reflected in a number of other factors which when totaled puts that base on the chopping block.

I remember some of the presentations to the Committee. Schools were scared SH....Less over the looming loss of impact funds. They typically floundered in their spiel as they were too little too late.

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Jun 27 at 2015 11:11 PM

2015-06-27T23:11:25-04:00

While this article makes for a good discussion, I still think the BRAC process will be highly political, and may have little to nothing to do with the schools in military communities. I bet it will come down to which politicians have the most influence, and which communities have the most political support. I bet that installations in the districts of key Congressional leaders will be spared, as will those with huge troop populations, and also those bases along state borders (they will have Representatives and Senators from two states fight for them).